1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an autonomous distributed instruction book control device for executing target processes by an instruction book in an environment such as a network, distributed system, distributed object-oriented system, or integrated network.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, demands for computer systems of lower cost and higher speed have been accompanied by the increasing importance of processing in distributed environments such as multiprocessor and network environments. In such distributed computing environments, the external environment tends to change, so that situations which cannot be responded to solely by fixed processing procedures designed beforehand tend to arise. It is therefore necessary for the system to be capable of autonomously modifying processing procedures in order to respond flexibly to changes in external conditions and the like.
For example, in conventional network environments, necessary data is stored in files or databases. This is accomplished by running the desired processing commands, application software, or the like. The files are read or the database is searched each time a task requires it.
In contrast, in distributed computing environments, it is sometimes uncertain where the necessary data which has been placed in file or database is located. In such cases, it is necessary to search for the necessary data, so that retrieving data for use entails significant effort.
In addition, real-time updating and processing of necessary data is very time-consuming, making it impossible to achieve high-speed processing.
With regard to retrieval of and processing adapted to unanticipated data, which falls outside ordinary data, it is necessary in distributed systems to constantly monitor the occurrence of unanticipated data.
For the foregoing reasons, it is difficult in the prior art to perform real-time processing of necessary data in distributed computing environments. With regard to processing unanticipated data, one method is to estimate anticipated processing procedures to a certain extent as a preparatory measure. Due to various restrictions and conditions, data checks are difficult in this method as well.
Another method involves the use of scripts to describe tasks for non-standard execution. But it is nearly impossible to represent all possible conditions.